‘Off the Map’
by David Malouf

‘Off the map’ by David Malouf explores the imaginative landscape of the persona and gives the impression that the inhabitant is travelling on a journey. The physical landscape appears to be a war zone in which the persona wants to escape, creating a landscape of their own within their mind.

David Malouf was born in 1934 in Queensland. His father was a Lebanese-Christian and his mother was an English-Jew. He studied at the University of Queensland until 1955 when he graduated.
(http://www.contemporarywriters.com/authors/?p=auth66 Retrieved: March 8, 2011.)
The poem is a journey of the imaginative landscape of the persona. The anaphora of vowels throughout the poem gives connotations of movement and travelling, for example ‘rode’, ‘climb’ and ‘wade’. The inhabitant starts off in what seems to be a war zone environment. Lines such as,’bronze Anzacs dozing’ and ‘at ease between wars’ convey this type of landscape. However, as the poem progresses the landscape changes as the imaginative landscape of the persona is explored. This change in landscape is indicated by the line ‘out into a dream’. As the poem progresses so too does the journey of the imaginative landscape of the persona. Cumulative imagery conveys the landscape of which is explored in the mind of the persona. For example, ‘black piers, bright water, silos moonstruck’. This conveys the ability of inhabitants to create their own landscapes and that the inhabitant does not always have to be present within their physical landscape. They can explore their mind and create the type of landscape they desire.
Our imaginative landscape has the ability to take us into the unknown, into a landscape that is completely new and unfamiliar. Malouf conveys this idea throughout the poem ‘Off the Map’ as the persona explores their imaginative landscape. The simile ‘pointing nowhere like saints practising stillness in a ripple of grain’, indicates that the inhabitant is lost with their imaginative landscape. This links to the idea that inhabitants have the ability to create an unknown place and escape their physical surroundings.
The imagery of the war at the beginning of the poem in comparison to the imagery of the imaginative landscape that the persona explores indicates that the inhabitant may want to escape their physical environment and journey into a more desired one. In addition, this reveals the inner landscape coming into play. The fact that the inhabitant wants to escape their physical landscape and create an environment with their own imagination, indicates that the inhabitant is not comfortable or content within their physical landscape.
The use of the simile, ‘They thunder across country like ‘daredevils boys’, in stanza 4, again creates an image of war; of soldiers running across the land. ‘Daredevils boys’ give connotations of brave and courageous soldiers. This suggests that the persona is exploring a landscape that relates to their physical landscape, although is more positive as they create an image of themself in a positive way i.e. as a ‘daredevil’.
Overall, the poem shows that the relationship between the inhabitant and the landscape can be both negative and positive. In the persona’s physical landscape, a negative relationship was indicated through the use of the imagery of war. The imaginative landscape however, conveyed a positive relationship between the inhabitant and the landscape. It was the persona’s desired landscape as opposed to their physical surroundings and it created a sense of freedom.

‘Off the Map’ is similar to 'Holy Thursday' by William Blake. Both poems incorporate an imaginative landscape in which the persona explores to escape their natural world. In ‘Holy Thursday’ the imaginative landscape is portrayed in the last stanza. The persona describes a more desired landscape in which there is justice and equality and the inhabitants (children working in factories) of the physical landscape no longer have to endure any more suffering. Similarly, ‘Off the Map’ conveys an imaginative landscape. The persona explores a more pleasant environment to that of their physical surroundings. They escape the landscape of war and explore a more desired environment in which their mind takes them.